jai
does all his own stunts
hello, not my first post, i did that somewhere else...sorry, but here's a long winded introduction to me.
the personal bit...i'm nearly 40, growing old quite disgracefully due to an ongoing old banger fiat addiction, one that my wife has been quite cool about for the last 13 years....i'll come back to her current state of mind later. anyway, i work in west london, live on the outskirts, and prefer dogs to cats.
but i digress, cars is why we are here, so here goes, been driving for 23 years, starting with a datsun (where are you ork283w, my beloved sunny 120y?), going through a beetle, a volvo (264gle, a shortlived cast off from mum) before finding the maker and model that would become almost an obession, the mk1 fiat uno.
now let's step aside here for a moment and talk about the importance of the mk1...
it just looks totally cool, and clean, just as much now as it did when released in the early 80s....the mk2? well i could find a photo and show and explain the differences, but i really don't have the will to go on about them...
so i started out with the poverty spec 45s, 45 denoted the horsepower the 1 litre, that's about 61cu in american, moved through the model range of bigger engines, like the 1.1l and 1.3l, gaining electric windows, sunroofs and velour seats. the luxury was awe inspiring
but as with all power was all, and the top of tree awaited..the turbo..
i love this car, the retard who screwdrivered his way in and stole the stereo, destroying bits of dash and interior, didn't. one day i will tap your favourite head up against a brick wall bitch....
so just about then i moved house, got a garage, put red away, with the intention of fixing her once settled, 5 years later:
don't judge me! i've been busy......
anyway, during these years a couple of others made their way onto my keyring:
the wifes panda, a 500 without the drag..
alfa romeo 155 v6...the beast, 6 months ownership, 4 full of pain, but two glorious months of epic soundtrack and cornering..
and a cheap bucket of a mk3 golf gti, the less said about which, the better...
and so it came to pass, an ebay advert caught my eye:
£120, non-runner, 13 owners, painted with a roller and brush....i had to have her!
months of work, shoestring budgets, helps from friends and forums, and her purpose became clear:
cheap track toy!!!
and did we kick it!
and so it came to pass that i thought about the big one, the ring, green hell, and an itch i had to scratch started up. and through a large well known uk based internet forum i met a like minded geezer, who'd just bought a new 500, and was already ragging it like he stole it...
of course it didn't quite go to plan....
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1Mk8K6LRqY"]YouTube - Ring Crash Pug Fiat Bike 2009[/ame]
spectacular entrance stage left........
still the bug was well and truely biting,
that got us to spa....yeah that on, the drop and rise through eau rouge, the forest, campus, stavelot, how could i not...
btw, if you own a new 8c, PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN SON!
sheesh, big girls blouse....
anyway, it was all a bit too much for tippex....
she blew her clutch big time, and was trailered home, eventually, leaving me to do the ring in a hire car.....less said the better....
so back home, jason starts chipping away, tippex is 6 weeks away from coming home, and i'm getting bored, he finds x, a ton down each, and we have a new project.
now i've stated in the past the x1/9 is powered by a lump of pig iron that is better served as a boat anchor. 80 odd horses, just not enough, i've been offered out on a forum, but the reality is, tippex vs an x is no contest, on anything but the tightest, twistiest circuits....
so why buy one? well it's not a resto, whilst i apprieciate the immense effort:
it's just too damned slow. "jai, we can drop an uno turbo engine in" whispered the jason.....i know, and i have spares.....lots of spares, but it's a little too easy, been done so many times, and 105bhp in a body heavier than the donor, just doesn't make sense. but the lampredi sohc was worked on for later cars to give a standard 136bhp, easily remapped to 180+.....new plan formed, time to go to work. but.... although we are very enthusiastic, we have no real mechanical, technical talents...we bodge, break and pray our way through car and track prep...
so keep an eye on x, and us, watch over us like guardian angels, as we try to make the x what she should have been from fiat/bertone, and scare ourselves silly in the process....
and the comment about the wifes current state of mind about all things automotive? we are expecting our first in may.....a family car is being demanded.....
the daddy wagon approacheth..
the personal bit...i'm nearly 40, growing old quite disgracefully due to an ongoing old banger fiat addiction, one that my wife has been quite cool about for the last 13 years....i'll come back to her current state of mind later. anyway, i work in west london, live on the outskirts, and prefer dogs to cats.
but i digress, cars is why we are here, so here goes, been driving for 23 years, starting with a datsun (where are you ork283w, my beloved sunny 120y?), going through a beetle, a volvo (264gle, a shortlived cast off from mum) before finding the maker and model that would become almost an obession, the mk1 fiat uno.
now let's step aside here for a moment and talk about the importance of the mk1...
it just looks totally cool, and clean, just as much now as it did when released in the early 80s....the mk2? well i could find a photo and show and explain the differences, but i really don't have the will to go on about them...
so i started out with the poverty spec 45s, 45 denoted the horsepower the 1 litre, that's about 61cu in american, moved through the model range of bigger engines, like the 1.1l and 1.3l, gaining electric windows, sunroofs and velour seats. the luxury was awe inspiring
but as with all power was all, and the top of tree awaited..the turbo..
i love this car, the retard who screwdrivered his way in and stole the stereo, destroying bits of dash and interior, didn't. one day i will tap your favourite head up against a brick wall bitch....
so just about then i moved house, got a garage, put red away, with the intention of fixing her once settled, 5 years later:
don't judge me! i've been busy......
anyway, during these years a couple of others made their way onto my keyring:
the wifes panda, a 500 without the drag..
alfa romeo 155 v6...the beast, 6 months ownership, 4 full of pain, but two glorious months of epic soundtrack and cornering..
and a cheap bucket of a mk3 golf gti, the less said about which, the better...
and so it came to pass, an ebay advert caught my eye:
£120, non-runner, 13 owners, painted with a roller and brush....i had to have her!
months of work, shoestring budgets, helps from friends and forums, and her purpose became clear:
cheap track toy!!!
and did we kick it!
and so it came to pass that i thought about the big one, the ring, green hell, and an itch i had to scratch started up. and through a large well known uk based internet forum i met a like minded geezer, who'd just bought a new 500, and was already ragging it like he stole it...
of course it didn't quite go to plan....
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1Mk8K6LRqY"]YouTube - Ring Crash Pug Fiat Bike 2009[/ame]
spectacular entrance stage left........
still the bug was well and truely biting,
that got us to spa....yeah that on, the drop and rise through eau rouge, the forest, campus, stavelot, how could i not...
btw, if you own a new 8c, PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN SON!
sheesh, big girls blouse....
anyway, it was all a bit too much for tippex....
she blew her clutch big time, and was trailered home, eventually, leaving me to do the ring in a hire car.....less said the better....
so back home, jason starts chipping away, tippex is 6 weeks away from coming home, and i'm getting bored, he finds x, a ton down each, and we have a new project.
now i've stated in the past the x1/9 is powered by a lump of pig iron that is better served as a boat anchor. 80 odd horses, just not enough, i've been offered out on a forum, but the reality is, tippex vs an x is no contest, on anything but the tightest, twistiest circuits....
so why buy one? well it's not a resto, whilst i apprieciate the immense effort:
it's just too damned slow. "jai, we can drop an uno turbo engine in" whispered the jason.....i know, and i have spares.....lots of spares, but it's a little too easy, been done so many times, and 105bhp in a body heavier than the donor, just doesn't make sense. but the lampredi sohc was worked on for later cars to give a standard 136bhp, easily remapped to 180+.....new plan formed, time to go to work. but.... although we are very enthusiastic, we have no real mechanical, technical talents...we bodge, break and pray our way through car and track prep...
so keep an eye on x, and us, watch over us like guardian angels, as we try to make the x what she should have been from fiat/bertone, and scare ourselves silly in the process....
and the comment about the wifes current state of mind about all things automotive? we are expecting our first in may.....a family car is being demanded.....
the daddy wagon approacheth..
